Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contribution by the Minister for Immigration to the debate on Safe Asylum Routes: Afghan Refugees of 17 October 2023, official report, column 54WH, what progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on reuniting Afghans evacuated under Operation Pitting in August 2021 with family members.

The government remains committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan. The situation is complex and presents significant challenges, including how those who are eligible for resettlement in the UK can leave the country. This includes eligible immediate family members of those being resettled under the ACRS.

For those evacuated from Afghanistan under ACRS P1 without their immediate family members, the Home Secretary has committed to establishing a route for separated families to be reunited. We expect to receive referrals in the first half of 2024.

Individuals remaining in Afghanistan or elsewhere are not obliged to wait for the pathway for eligible family members of ACRS P1 to open. Appendix FM, for example, provides a route for those seeking to enter the UK on the basis of their family life.